All of the table commands described in this chapter are conveniently located in the main menu under the Table item and on the Table toolbar, shown below.

Table 1 describes the effects of using these icons. When you create a table or select an existing table, the Table toolbar may be displayed automatically, or you can manually display it by clicking View > Toolbars > Table. The toolbar can float over the main Writer window (as shown below), or it can be docked along any edge of the main window. See Chapter 1 (Introducing Writer) for more about docking and floating toolbars, and how to hide and display specific tools on a toolbar.

Opens the Insert Table dialog box where you can set up and insert a table into the document, name the table for use with the Navigator, and set some other options. If you press the small black triangle pointing down next to the icon, you can use the mouse to drag to select the number of rows and columns to include in the table.

Line Style

Opens the Border Style window where you can modify the border line style.

Line Color (border)

Opens the Border Color window where you can modify the border color.

Borders

Opens the Borders window where you can select which sides of the table or of the selected cells will have a border.

Background Color

Opens the Background toolbar where you can select the background color of the table or of the selected cells.

Merge Cells

Combines the selected cells into a single cell. Refer to Merging and splitting cells on page 14 for an example of using this button.

Split Cells

Opens the Split Cell dialog box where you can define how to split a cell. Refer to Merging and splitting cells on page 14 for an example of using this button.

Optimize

Opens the a drop down menu with four options you can use to let OOo optimize the distribution of the columns or rows or optimize the row height or column width.

Top

Press this button to align the contents of the selected cells to the top of the cell.

Center (vertical)

Press this button to align the contents of the selected cells to the vertical center of the cell.

Bottom

Press this button to align the contents of the selected cells to the bottom of the cell.

Insert Row

Inserts a row below the selected row.

Insert Column

Inserts a column after the selected column.

Delete Row

Deletes the selected row(s) from the table.

Delete Column

Deletes the selected column(s) from the table.

Select Table

Selects the entire table.

Select Column

Selects the column in which the cursor is positioned.

Select Row

Selects the row in which the cursor is positioned.

AutoFormat

Opens the AutoFormat dialog box where you can select among several predefined formatting sets. Each set is characterized by its own fonts, shading, and borders styles. You can also select AutoFormat from the Insert Table dialog box.

Table Properties

Opens the Table Format dialog box where you can control all the properties of the table—for example: name, alignment, spacing, column width, borders, and background.

Sort

Opens the Sort dialog box where you can specify the sort criteria for the selected cells.